1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ratchet wrench and, more particularly, to a ratchet wrench that includes three operative positions.
2. The Prior Arts
Taiwan Patent Publication No. 524174 entitled “IMPROVED DIRECTION CONTROL STRUCTURE FOR RATCHET WRENCH” discloses a ratchet wrench including a body with a head having a compartment, a direction control groove, and a pawl groove intermediate and in communication with the compartment and the direction control groove. A gear wheel is rotatably received in the compartment, and a pawl is slideably received in the pawl groove. The pawl includes two pressing portions on a rear face thereof. The direction control groove includes a wall having two positioning recesses. A switch is slideably received in the direction control groove and movable between two operative positions. The switch includes a positioning slot and a receptacle. A T-shaped member includes a positioning section received in the positioning slot and a head section received in the pawl groove and located above the pawl. A biasing device is received in the receptacle and includes a ball, a pin, and a spring attached between the ball and the pin. The ball is selectively received in one of the positioning recesses, and the pin selectively presses against one of the pressing portions of the pawl corresponding to one of the operative positions of the switch in the direction control groove, so that the ratchet wrench can drive fasteners such as bolts, nuts, etc. in one of two operative directions (clockwise and counterclockwise) while allowing free rotation in a reverse direction. However, the ratchet wrench can not be utilized as a conventional wrench of the type capable of driving fasteners in either direction and not allowing free rotation in the reverse direction, which may be required in some cases. As an example, when it is desired to proceed with slight tightness adjustment of a fastener by rotating the fastener in the tightening direction and/or loosening direction before the desired tightness is obtained, a user has to frequently move the switch between the two operative positions to change the driving direction of the ratchet wrench, which is time-consuming and laborsome.
Thus, a need exists for a ratchet wrench that allows easy operation in the slight tightness adjustment.